Protector of Hearts
by jusobele
Summary: My submission to the most recent JBNP writing challenge which was based around an amazing picture by Nikita link on my profile . An old Quileute romantic legend manifests in the modern day to reunite Jacob with his Bells. Set in Breaking Dawn a few days before...that wedding...Pre-read by the ever-patient niamhg.


**A/N: Well...I suggested this challenge so I need to step up to it...And I'll admit, this flight of fancy just sort of erupted into something else from what I originally intended. Thank you to Nikita for so graciously allowing us to play with her amazing work, especially as I know this story wouldn't have been quite what she had in mind.**

**And as a final note, just in case anyone reading has read one of my other fics and recognises the OC in this one...yes, I plagiarised my own character :-p**

The feather lay on Charlie's doorstep, looking for all the world as though someone had placed it there deliberately. Who knew? Perhaps someone had. Perhaps not a tangible someone, not a someone with a physical form...but maybe, just maybe, a Spirit had blown it there on the wind; or maybe someone's intent was so strong it had caused it to materialise...

Either way, I saw it in the instant before Edward's foot trod on it. We were on our way out to yet another painful, painstaking dress fitting with Alice.

"Edward, move your foot!" The cry escaped my lips before I even thought about it. Something seared through my heart, threatening to crack the hole there wide open...again. I instinctively clutched at my chest in a gesture of old—a gesture..._he _would have recognised in an instant, but which meant nothing to Edward.

"What is it, love?" Edward's tone was pure confusion but he complied with my demand, lifting the offending foot and revealing the beautiful feather—now slightly crushed at the bottom—underneath. Conscious that he was in full view of my neighbours, he used human speed when he stooped to pick it up.

"Don't touch it!" I dove down to get to it before him, pausing at the last second when I realised that Edward had withdrawn his hand and I wasn't in a race against him. Kneeling on the cold stone step, I almost reverently picked up the precious object, staring at it in utter disbelief.

_Here it is. The sign I've been praying for when I haven't known exactly **what **I've been praying for._

My fingertips lightly traced the soft, downy edges of the rounded tip as tears pooled in my eyes and a memory caused my breath to catch in my throat.

"Are you alright, love?" Edward crouched down beside me, his golden eyes disturbingly understanding. He couldn't read my mind and I was fairly certain that..._he _would never have thought of this incident when Edward was around. It was too insignificant as an isolated memory. There was no way the man I was supposed to marry the day after tomorrow could fathom why this feather had tugged at my heart and knocked the breath from my lungs. And yet, looking into his eyes...I realised that he _knew_.

"I—can...Alice...time." My incoherent attempt at formulating a sentence ended on a whisper, but Edward seemed to grasp my meaning regardless. Putting one hand under my elbow, he pulled me gently to my feet and kissed my forehead.

"Take all the time you need, love." I heard the pain in his voice and the promise behind his words—_even if it takes longer than two days_—and I still couldn't bring myself to look into his eyes. Miserably nodding my head and feeling like the worst person alive, I turned and stumbled back into Charlie's house.

The door closing behind me, separating me from my fiancé, felt like a sentinel. I was grateful for it, at the same time realising I shouldn't feel this way. I was meant to be a blushing bride, not looking for something to distance me from my fiancé. I leaned against the wall, staring in disbelief at the feather in my hand. An unfamiliar bubble of emotion was beginning to form in my chest. I couldn't identify quite what that emotion was. _Relief, maybe?_

"Everything okay, Bells?" Charlie appeared in the living room doorway, looking at me intently.

"Fine, dad." I offered no further explanation than that, and ran upstairs to my bedroom. After hesitating for just a moment, I crossed to the window and slammed it shut. Then, I kicked off my sneakers and settled on the bed to allow that memory of..._him_...to surface.

"Just say his name already, Bella," I chastised myself. Taking a deep breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled sharply again. Opening my eyes, I said his name firmly to nobody at all.

"Jacob."

It was just another day without Edward. Just another hiking trip with my own personal sun in that insane quest to find the meadow. Just another occasion where Jaketook it upon himself to try and chase away the clouds that shadowed my every breath and step.

His random, easy chattering about the Rabbit—which was _nearly _finished—and Quil's attempts at catching a girl's eye hadn't worked so far that day. I was beginning to despair of ever finding the meadow and it was affecting my mood horribly. I saw Jake glance at me sidelong and knew what he would see. A too-thin girl, pitifully pale as she clutched at her chest with her arm, holding herself together...constantly.

He stooped down suddenly, his ridiculous growth spurt meaning that he had quite a distance to cover before he could reach the ground. Standing upright again, he held up a feather for my inspection.

"Look at this, Bells!" His voice was so triumphant that I had to look, to see what had him so fired up. The feather he held was certainly beautiful, with a rounded tip and various shades of caramel and coffee woven through it. "It's an omen!" Jake crowed. "A good one," he amended hastily, with a glance at my self-protecting arm.

Despite myself, I felt a thin smile spread across my lips. Jake was absolutely full of tribal legends and lore. Telling them to me was one of his favourite ways to try and bring me out of my depression and, if I was being honest, I would have to admit that I loved it. Jake was a good storyteller, and I could listen to his husky voice for hours. I _did _listen to his husky voice for hours, as often as I could manage it. It was one of the few highlights of my life, along with his hugs and his big sunny grins.

"Tell me," I said simply. It was all the encouragement he needed and he launched immediately into his tale.

"This feather is from a rare breed of hawk," he informed me. I took his word for it. Jake was a fountain of knowledge of just about anything to do with Mother Nature. "It's rarely found this far north and when it is, it's supposed to reunite true lovers who have been separated by bad luck or bad judgement."

"What?" He had my interest now. Lucky bird feathers didn't seem any less reasonable than voices talking in my head or an insane quest to find a meadow. Apparently pleased by my sudden interest, Jake grinned at me and allowed his story to unfold.

"A few hundred years ago, not far from Forks, a young woman called Martha lived with her rich father."

"Martha?" I interrupted him. "That doesn't sound very seventeenth or eighteenth century."

"Ssshh. Her true love was a local boy...do you want to make his name up so it's century appropriate?"

I laughed despite myself. "Let's call him...William."

Jake snorted at my choice of name but continued with his tale. "Okay..._William_ had nothing to offer Martha—nothing except for his love. She didn't want anything else and would have been happy to spend her life with him, but when William asked her father for her hand in marriage, it turned out that her father didn't see it that way. He wanted Martha to marry someone else, the son of one of his business partners. Then the two families' wealth would be combined and the business partnership solidified.

"So Martha's father told William that he needed to prove his worth. The boy said he would do anything at all if he could only marry Martha. The father's hobby was bird breeding, so he told William that he had six months to find a rare breed of hawk. If he could bring him the hawk within six months, he could marry his daughter.

"Martha was devastated. She knew her father didn't want her to marry William, and she was repulsed by the boy he did want her to marry. She also knew that her father would have chosen a breed of bird that was almost impossible to find. He refused to change his mind, and William left on his quest. Before he left, he made her promise that if she received so much as a feather from this bird within the six months, she wouldn't marry the other boy. Of course, she agreed.

"Months passed and Martha's father was pushing her to marry the other boy. He wasn't all that bad a guy, so when she told him that she wanted to wait until six months were up, he agreed. Their fathers went full steam ahead organising their wedding, and every day she waited for her true love to come home to her.

"The day of the wedding came, and Martha was distraught. There had been no sign of the boy and no word about a bird or a feather. Resigned to her fate, she sat in her wedding dress by her open window just crying until it was time to go to her own wedding. All of a sudden, the wind blew something past her window. She reached out to grab it, and saw that it was a feather from this rare hawk. She saw another floating past and ran outside to see what was going on. A few more feathers blew past on the wind, and she started to follow them. A couple of miles along the road, who d'you think she met, Bells?"

I rolled my eyes at the obviousness. "William, of course."

"Yep!" Jake confirmed happily. "So there she was, on her wedding day, wearing her wedding dress, and her true love had come back to her."

"So what happened next?" I asked.

"She married William instead." He looked at me as if I was completely missing the point of the story. "But there was never any explanation why the feathers blew past her window. If she hadn't followed them, it would've been too late—she would've been married already by the time he got there."

"Huh." I looked at the striped feather in his hand. I didn't think I had ever seen one quite like it before, not that I was an expert. "What kind of hawk is it?"

"I dunno what it's real name is. We call it a Martha Hawk." Jake looked at the feather in his hand, a slight frown on his face. "They really aren't supposed to be this far north at all. I wonder what it's doin' here?"

Despite myself, I felt a thrill rush through me. Stranger things had happened to me than a rare bird signalling the return of my true love.

Jake completely ruined my moment. "Hey Bells! Maybe I'm the poor guy who's really your true love." He nudged me with his shoulder, nearly knocking me over, and laughed lightly before tossing the feather over his shoulder. I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Did you just make that whole story up?"

"What?" He stared at me incredulously. "Do you really think I have the imagination to come up with something like that? _Please._"

I lay on my bed in Charlie's house, gently stroking the edges of the feather. It seemed preposterous to believe the thought that had lodged itself in my mind, but then again..._Stranger things had happened to me than a rare bird signalling the return of my true love. _And, of course, I had been praying for a sign. Not a sign about my real feelings for Jacob, specifically—that was unnecessary. But could this sign of his imminent return mean the decision I had slowly been reaching was the right one?

I sat up abruptly, the sudden movement making my head spin, while I tried to work out how to do this. My cell phone rang. I didn't even need to look at the caller display to know who it was. _Alice. _I answered slightly reluctantly.

"Don't try and stop me," I said shortly before hanging up, and then raced out of my bedroom. I hesitated on my way to the front door. Edward had disabled my truck once before, after all.

"Dad?" An answering grunt from the living room directed me to where he was lounged on the couch, a can of beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other. "Can I take the cruiser to La Push if my truck won't start?"

That caught his attention. He had offered it before, but I never accepted. "Does this have anything to do with you being here instead of having pins stuck in you for your dress fitting?"

"Um, yeah."

"Is Jake back?" He sat up straighter and looked at me hopefully.

I shook my head, afraid to speak for the moment in case my words caught in my throat. When I was as sure as I could be that my voice wouldn't betray my swirling emotions, I elaborated. "I need to leave something for him at Billy's. For when he gets back."

Charlie looked perturbed and I knew what he was thinking. _If _he gets back. I knew that was an option, too, but not for the same reason Charlie was thinking. The Chief of Police was assuming Jake had come to harm. I knew better. The harm he'd had inflicted on him was all emotional in nature, and it had all been dispensed by me.

"Take the cruiser, Bells."

I breathed my thanks and headed slowly out the front door, knowing who would be waiting by my truck. I tilted my chin as I walked towards him.

"I said _don't _try and stop me."

"You didn't think an explanation was needed for your future disappearing two days before our wedding?"

That brought me up short and I stood helplessly before him. "I..."

"I've already said, Bella. Take all the time you need." Edward stepped closer to me and reached out one marble hand to run it through my hair.

I knew what he was doing.

Stepping back, I glared at him. "I do _not _need to go to La Push smelling like you. That would enrage the pack and you know it."

"Jacob hasn't come back, love." Edward's voice was gentle and his eyes only concerned.

"I know."

"Yet your future has disappeared."

I hung my head. "Yes."

"You've absolutely decided?"

Had I? If the decision had been finally reached, it wasn't consciously done. My hesitation seemed to be enough. Edward leaned in to kiss my forehead again, and then let me go.

The plan should have been a good one—go wolf and bury the pain in the animal. Of course, this was the blighted life of Jacob Black, and things didn't go that way.

The opposite happened. When he gave himself over to the beast within, the animal howled in agony and cruel barbs tore at his mighty heart. It didn't take long for the boy to resurface, alone, naked, shaking and confused in the forest somewhere close to the Canadian border. Listlessly, he wandered through the trees, trying to absorb that the girl he loved was hell bent on pursuing certain death and an eternity as his natural enemy.

He had no clothes, no money, no destination and no purpose. Pain ripped through his heart as he tortured himself with recollections. He tried to pinpoint the times he could have said something different, or done something else, to change her mind. He replayed conversations and examined facial expressions that were etched into his memory.

Finally, he had only one conclusion to reach: _Bella Swan would simply not be saved._

Another day passed, and then another. When he was hungry, he phased and ate forest kill. When he was tired, he curled up on the forest floor and slept. Keeping the pack out of his mind was an effort whenever he was phased, and his wolf only fuelled his torment. Mostly, he stayed human.

That was how the ancient witch doctor found him, curled up naked on the forest floor. Approaching stealthily, the magic man quickly detected the malaise around the boy who had appeared mysteriously in his forest. _Supernatural. Wounded. Afraid. _He had Jacob figured out long before the boy finally detected his presence.

Instantly awake, Jacob leaped snarling to his feet. Even in human form, his snarl was impressive. It sounded so feral that it should have scared off the human who dared to disturb him. Instead, the old man simply cackled and beckoned for the boy to follow him.

Jake stood, dazed and uncertain, in the heart of the forest in the middle of nowhere, as an ancient, stooped native man ignored his animalistic posturing and instead calmly gestured for him to follow. Realising he had nothing to lose, he did as he was bid.

They walked for some time. Jake found that he wanted to talk. He'd had no contact with another human for two weeks or more. He peppered the old man with questions—who was he, where did he live, what did he want with Jacob? If he received any answer, it was simply a chuckle. Wondering vaguely if he should be alarmed, Jake realised that he felt inherently comfortable with this strange old man. He could detect no threat.

Finally, they arrived at a rundown cabin in the heart of nowhere. It was in a worse state of repair than Billy's cabin and Jake found himself immediately cataloguing the things he could do with no effort and little time expended. The old man turned to him and, speaking at last, introduced himself as _Kalimah._ He was a witch doctor and he would give the boy food and shelter for as long as he needed, in return for hard labour.

It was a perfect situation. Kalimah needed brawn, and Jake had plenty of that. Jake found that he needed to talk, and Kalimah was nothing if not a good listener. Man and boy had both been devoid of human contact for longer than either were comfortable with. Jake found himself pouring out his heartache while he hammered and painted. Omitting all mention of wolves and cold ones from his story, he talked for hour upon hour about Bella and the many reasons he believed he was the healthier choice for her. Kalimah watched, and listened, and smiled to himself.

For four days, Jake stayed with Kalimah. On the first day, the old man gave him something like sack cloth to wear. On the second day, he disappeared for a few hours and when he returned, inexplicably had old clothes for him. On the third day, having listened to Jacob talk for hours about his Bells, he finally offered an opinion.

"It seems to me that you ran away at the wrong time, boy. If you are so desperate that this wedding should not go ahead, why are you here?"

It was a good question, but Jacob had an answer. "She won't change her mind now. She made her promise, and she won't break it. She'll marry _him_."

"You made her a promise, too. You promised that you wouldn't let her down. Don't interrupt me, boy! You are a warrior! You have given up too soon. If you do not fight to save her from the fate she believes she has chosen, then you are breaking your promise and letting her down."

Jake's eyes narrowed at the old man. It wasn't the first time he suspected Kalimah knew exactly what he was. The old man simply chuckled.

Jake tossed and turned all night. He couldn't shake the image Kalimah had planted in his mind. Was he right? Should Jacob still be fighting to save Bella, right up to the bitter end? Was he letting her down by not still trying to stop the wedding?

The next day, the fourth day, he worked harder than ever to finish everything Kalimah had asked him to do. Shortly after lunchtime, he announced he was leaving to go and fight for his Bells. Kalimah merely nodded sagely, and packed the boy a hearty meal to take with him.

Just before they parted ways, the old man beckoned for Jacob to lean down towards him. Then, he whispered in to the boy's ear.

"If things do not happen as you expect...let Martha be your guide."

"What?" Jake, of course, knew the old fairytale about the feathers—hell, he'd even shared it with Bella—but he was thoroughly confused about the old man's meaning.

Kalimah simply waved him off. He waited until the boy was out of sight, and then got to work.

Jake reached the outskirts of the peninsula just before daybreak. He had run all afternoon, slept for a few hours, and was now running again. The closer he got to home, the stronger its pull became. Finally deciding that he wanted to increase his speed, he phased for the first time in five days and braced himself for the pack mind.

He detected the flavour of Leah's mind before she phased out. Quil was there too, but he also phased out before Jake could greet him.

_What the hell?_

Alone in his head and close to home, Jacob began to worry. Why were none of the pack phased? They _had _been, until they detected him. The conclusion was obvious. There was something they didn't want him to know. Was it Billy? Rachel? Or, dear Spirits _no_, had Edward finally lost control around Bella?

His massive russet paws pounded the earth, mud flying up all around him as his giant claws raked through the mossy ground. He covered the distance in record time, howling occasionally for one of his brothers to phase the fuck in.

Not one of them did.

Reaching La Push, Jake shifted back to human, dragged on the clothes Kalimah had given him, and raced on foot to his dad's cabin. Hurtling up the porch steps and throwing himself inside, he startled his father who was just about to take a mouthful of breakfast cereal.

"Jake!"

"Dad!" He impulsively threw his arms around his father, tears springing to his eyes as _home _overwhelmed him. He noticed the punctured tyre on Billy's wheelchair and shame pierced his heart for leaving his crippled father alone for almost three weeks. "What's happened? What don't the pack want me to know?" Pulling back, he searched the shrewd eyes of his father and Chief.

Billy's answering gaze showed comprehension. "I think I'm not the best person to explain that to you, son. But before you go shooting off again, you should get some rest. You look done in."

"Is it something bad? Is it Bella? How can I rest if something's happened...?"

His father interrupted him. "It's nothing bad, and if you don't want to rest, at least go and shower. You stink, boy."

Shamefaced, Jacob had to agree his father was probably right. He stayed in the kitchen only long enough to ensure Billy was in good health and spirits, then headed straight for the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, dripping from the shower, freshly washed, clean shaven and teeth brushed, Jake walked into his bedroom wearing a towel around his waist. He stopped in his tracks in the doorway, his jaw unhinging slightly as he looked at what lay on his pillow.

"Dad?"

"It's what you think, son!" Billy called back cheerfully.

Approaching the bed slowly, Jacob reached out his long fingers and stroked the feather that lay there as he tried to work out _how_, and _why._

Everybody had expected that within an hour of Jake returning home, he and Bells would be together. The pack knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from her wedding and they all suspected he would be back before then. When Bella had arrived in La Push the day before, cheeks flushed and clutching a Martha feather which she insisted on leaving for Jacob, they all knew what was going on. As one, they agreed that Jake should hear the news from Bella herself. Sam agreed that whoever was patrolling could phase out when Jake arrived, provided it was safe to do so.

Nobody understood why, three hours after getting back the day before Bella's wedding, Jacob still hadn't left Billy's cabin. When Sam finally summoned him to phase, he immediately saw the clouds of doubt in the boy's mind.

_Don't be an idiot, Jacob. This is what you've been waiting for._

_I know. It's just...shouldn't she know her own heart, without needing a **sign **to tell her? I know her, Sam. I bet she would've gone ahead and married him if she hadn't found this feather. Shouldn't she just **know **if she really does love me?_

**Sam – **_Why don't you ask her?_

_I don't know. I need some time._

Every time he passed the fridge—which was a lot—in Billy's kitchen, the calendar that was pinned next to it taunted him with the date. _Tomorrow was her wedding day. _Billy found him there eventually, just staring at it.

"Why haven't you gone to her, son?"

"I don't know. She chose _death_, dad. And now she's changed her mind about..._everything_, because of a feather? I came back to fight for her, and now it turns out I don't need to. After everything...it's just not how I expected this to go. I need to hear her reasons."

"What are you waiting for?"

Jake thought about it, then snorted as he remembered his discussion with Sam an hour earlier. "A sign, I guess."

I knew he had come back. Incredibly, unbelievably, as I had sat at my window the evening before my wedding with tear tracks still drying on my cheeks, another Martha feather floated slowly past. I imagined that if I followed it, it would lead me directly to Jacob, but I knew this had to be on his terms.

The day passed achingly slowly. I knew the Cullens were packing up and preparing to leave. Edward visited me and told me my future had disappeared entirely. Alice was certain my decision had been made. I confirmed that it had. I didn't add that I was no longer sure that Jacob would accept my love. I could only hope that Alice's lack of visions meant I wasn't too late.

Night passed and became day—what would have been, should have been, my wedding day. I scarcely thought of that as I waited for the phone call that seemed as though it would never come. My every thought was consumed by _Jacob. _I knew he was back. Why hadn't he come to me?

Finally, mid-morning, I could bear it no longer. There was no point in phoning. Jacob had proved to me twice before that he was an expert at avoiding my calls. I was going to have to go and face the music in person.

I was perhaps a mile before the treaty line when I saw it. The Rabbit was pulled over at the side of the road, facing the direction I was coming. Squinting, I could just about make out a figure behind the steering wheel. I pulled my truck over, leaped out, and simply ran towards him.

Jake hadn't slept well. All night, he tossed and turned. Whenever he awoke, Kalimah's voice kept coming back to him. _Let Martha be your guide. _Was he really supposed to believe that Bella had changed her mind about—_everything_—because of one superstitious feather?

It was just before dawn that he jumped out of bed, leapt lupine-like out his bedroom window and phased into his wolf. He just wanted a run to clear his mind a little.

He didn't expect what he found in the forest.

My legs brought me to a halt not far from where the Rabbit sat. It wasn't nerves or doubt or anything like that. I was, simply, floored by what I saw.

Jacob Black sat almost idly in the driver's seat of the Rabbit. He looked like he could have been there for a while. His feet were propped up on the dashboard and he looked perfectly comfortable. He was twirling something I couldn't make out between his fingers and his eyes were fixed directly on me. His expression was serious, perhaps even slightly challenging.

I stayed rooted to the spot as we just stared at one another through the car window. Jake repositioned slightly and I saw what the object was that he was twirling between his fingers.

_The feather._

My heart went into overdrive and I took a step closer, watching as the slightest hint of a smile formed on his beautiful face. Slowly, almost languorously, he began to unfurl himself from his comfortable position in the car and, with his eyes still locked on mine, he emerged.

He didn't come towards me. He simply leaned against the car door, twirling the feather back and forth in one hand while the fingers of his other hand stroked it lazily. He looked different. Older. More mature. In control. He was also fully dressed, as though he had been going somewhere important before pulling the car over.

"Bella." If there was any of the old longing in his voice, I couldn't detect it.

"Hey Jake." My own reply was breathless. His eyes dragged over me and for the first time I could remember, I felt self-conscious of my appearance around Jake. I fidgeted under his scrutiny, suddenly flustered by my hoodie which I was fairly sure had a hole around the neck somewhere, my old jeans and my muddy sneakers.

"You're back," I blurted out needlessly. Obviously he was back. I just needed to fill the charged silence.

"I thought I had a wedding to attend...or try to stop." He pushed himself off the car and walked towards me. No, not walked..._stalked. _My breath caught in my throat at the self-assuredness that was emanating from him. This wasn't Jacob. No, it _was_ Jacob—but a different version of my sunny Jacob. I couldn't put my finger on it. Stalking past me, turning and stopping behind me, he leaned down so his face was close to my ear. No part of him was touching me but I could still feel his _heat _through my clothes and I could smell his earthy, musky scent. My knees felt suddenly weak...a first around Jacob Black.

"This isn't a wedding dress, Bells," he murmured in my ear. He ran the feather lightly down my arm to the sleeve of my hoodie, and tugged lightly on the cuff.

I gulped slightly. "N-no."

He came back round to face me again, keeping an arm's length of distance between us. His eyes were challenging and I was fairly sure this was not going to be the reunion I had envisaged.

"What happened?" he asked bluntly.

"The wedding's off," I replied quickly.

"Why?" He moved ever so slightly closer, his eyes never leaving mine as he searched straight into my soul.

"I couldn't marry Edward when I..." I gulped involuntarily again. _Now or never. _"I'm in love with you."

Staring back into his beautiful eyes, I saw _something _flicker there but couldn't interpret exactly what it was. He stepped closer still.

"I didn't like it, Bella." His confession surprised me at first, until I realised. _Of course. _

"It wasn't the feather, Jake. I mean it was...But I was looking for an excuse, a reason, _anything _really. Not about you, I already knew how I felt about you. I'd made a promise I didn't think I could break." I shook my head, trying to find the words to make him see that I didn't choose him because of a feather, not really. It was more...seeing the feather made me realise there was a higher power at work than vampires and shape shifters. It was the catalyst I needed to finally make up my mind to call off my wedding and rescind my future as the wolves' mortal enemy, because Jacob Black was my _destiny._

"You are my one true love." I spoke the words simply, squaring my shoulders and facing up to the man who was still watching me intently, inscrutably. Finally, he nodded.

"I know that," he said calmly. "I was on my way to see you when I heard your truck comin'."

He closed the final distance between us and when his body brushed up against mine, I had to brace my knees so as my legs wouldn't give way from the wave of lust that washed over me. He leaned down so his lips just ghosted along my cheek to my ear.

"Bella?"

"Ung-huh?"

"Prove it to me."

His words were a challenge that, when I turned my head to look at him, I saw matched the expression in his eyes. A fire I had never seen before was smouldering behind that challenge and in that instant, where love and determination and something else entirely combined, I knew what was different about Jacob today.

"You're Alpha," I blurted out.

The ghost of a smile spread across his lips.

The majestic wolf had met the imposing hawk in the heart of the forest. He had skidded to a halt the instant he detected her, disbelief making him lose the edge from his natural grace for just a moment as he tripped over his own paws.

She was _waiting _for him.

He stared at her, and she stared right back. Their eyes connected and without words, without images, a message somehow passed from her to him.

_Destiny._

And then she spread her great wings and was gone, leaving him a precious feather in her wake.

The wolf had whined and pawed at the ground as he tried to fathom that message. What was his destiny?

It didn't take him long. He was born to be Alpha. He had always known he was intended to be with Bella Swan.

What the hell had he been waiting for? The russet animal wheeled around and headed straight to Sam Uley.

Boy and girl lay tangled together on the forest floor. They were both still dressed, but only barely. It wouldn't be long before their bodies combined, sealing their love and crossing the final divide that lay along the path of their pre-destined love.

Martha's work was done.

As tends to be the case with folklore, the tale Jacob had told his Bells hadn't been completely accurate. Martha hadn't had her happy ending with her own true love. But nor had she submitted to a forced marriage either.

She had taken matters into her own hands, and remained to this day as the Protector of hearts.

The hawk spread her wings and flew down to land lightly on the forest floor at a safe distance from the lovers.

Shimmering around the edges, the bird disappeared and the girl materialised. Smiling to herself, she picked up a fallen feather and placed it on the palm of her hand. Blowing on it, she sent it on the wind to _Kalimah _to let him know her job here was done.

**A/N: Ummm...yeah. It's been a long time since I've been so nervous about posting something! Thank you as always to niamhg for pre-reading this for me.**


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